One of the Belana was damaged (by a spade it looked like) so we only have 4 of those, but hopefully we'll get plenty of small new potatoes from each plant.
Sunday 15 January 2012
Chitting Our Potatoes
Not quite so cold today - only about 0° and very sunny. Unfortunately no time to go to the plot though.
We took our seed potatoes to my mum's cold spare bedroom to chit for a few weeks (months actually as we don't intend to plant till end of March/early April). Along with the Orla, Belana and Kestrels I couldn't resist buying 3 Duke of York Reds at the garden centre yesterday. The Orla we intend to keep in the ground for a bit longer as they were tasty last year and kept very well.
Saturday 14 January 2012
Brrrr! Very frosty
We intended to work on the plot this morning but it was too frosty with hard ground and it was still foggy. A low of -5.5° last night.
We were shocked to see how badly affected the broad beans were. Perhaps they'll recover as they're meant to be Winter ones... (Aqua Dulce Claudia)
We measured up for our shallots and onions which were delivered from T&M this week, along with our spuds which we'll chit round my mum's as we have done previous years. They've arrived a bit earlier than we expected, so we've got to start working the ground - but not today!
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| The sun trying to get through the fog |
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| Sad-looking broad beans! |
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| Our ever-present friend! |
Sunday 8 January 2012
Sprouts and Wind
Today was our first visit to the plot since the really windy weather last Wednesday and Thursday. First thing I noticed was that our sprout cage was missing, then Jamie pointed it out in the hedge!!
We had secured it in the ground with bamboo legs but they'd snapped off and all the bricks holding down the mesh hadn't done their job. It was a bit tricksy getting the mesh off the hawthorn hedge but it's not badly damaged, so now it's back in place protecting our sprouts from the pigeons!
We bought 3 bags of organic farmyard manure from the garden centre and have piled that on the area which is for the sprouts next year - after Jamie dug it over. The ground needs to be firm to prevent getting blown sprouts (where the sprout is leafy rather than solid) so a bit of weight on the area for the next few weeks should hopefully do the trick.
I turned the compost and added more cardboard and veggie cuttings. We chatted with other allotment holders who were taking advantage of the amazing weather for January - 11° in the sun today and 0° minimum over the last week.
And, of course, we picked some more sprouts and a carrot!
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| Wind damage |
We bought 3 bags of organic farmyard manure from the garden centre and have piled that on the area which is for the sprouts next year - after Jamie dug it over. The ground needs to be firm to prevent getting blown sprouts (where the sprout is leafy rather than solid) so a bit of weight on the area for the next few weeks should hopefully do the trick.
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| Firming the sprout bed |
And, of course, we picked some more sprouts and a carrot!
Friday 6 January 2012
Angle Shades Moth
Jamie found this big Angle Shades moth on the kitchen window. It very likely was hidden amongst the cabbage we brought home the other day - we've found quite a few of its bright green caterpillars on the plot.
The moth doesn't cause damage but the larvae are damaging to foliage and flower buds.
Great looking moth!
The moth doesn't cause damage but the larvae are damaging to foliage and flower buds.
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| Angle Shades Moth |
Tuesday 3 January 2012
Rainbows and Carrots
We took some compost up the plot - including the cellophane wrappers from our Quality Street (it says on the tin they're compostable - made of corn starch apparently) Interesting to see whether they do actually dissolve; we've found the biodegradable plastic bin bags take longer than 18months to dissolve so we don't use them anymore.
We cleared the original carrot trench - which we sowed in April! Most of the remaining Rainbow Mix carrots had split wide open, so they went in the compost bin, but the Early Nantes looked so good we had to take them home.
Also picked some spring onions, which have been in the raised bed for months, parsley and one of the green cabbages - we were hoping to have some lovely coleslaw. However, apart from the slugs which were tucked well into the cabbage there was mould on the edge of the leaves throughout. So, that went into the compost bin and I made carrot and parsley soup instead! The carrots were really tasty even though they'd been in the ground so long.
Now, when we walked to the plot it was reasonably sunny. While we were up there there was a torrential rainstorm and we got soaked. Walking back we did get to see a lovely rainbow though!
Also picked some spring onions, which have been in the raised bed for months, parsley and one of the green cabbages - we were hoping to have some lovely coleslaw. However, apart from the slugs which were tucked well into the cabbage there was mould on the edge of the leaves throughout. So, that went into the compost bin and I made carrot and parsley soup instead! The carrots were really tasty even though they'd been in the ground so long.
Now, when we walked to the plot it was reasonably sunny. While we were up there there was a torrential rainstorm and we got soaked. Walking back we did get to see a lovely rainbow though!
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